FDIC accused of omitting multiple crypto-related “cease and desist letters” in Coinbase-backed lawsuit

Odaily Planet Daily News The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was accused of omitting multiple cryptocurrency-related "suspension letters" sent to banks in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit supported by Coinbase. History Associates pointed out in a report submitted to the federal court in Washington, DC on January 17 that the FDIC "may have missed other suspension letters" and plans to update the lawsuit based on this. The public reported that the FDIC "systematically obstructed FOIA requests", resulting in at least 150 relevant documents not being handed over. The 25 FDIC letters that have been made public recommend that financial institutions suspend cryptocurrency business until the regulatory review is completed. The cryptocurrency industry believes that this is an action to cut off the banking services of related enterprises ("Operation Chokepoint 2.0"). Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal issued a statement on January 16 that the lawsuit requires all suspension letters confirmed by the Office of the Inspector General, but accuses the FDIC of searching only the letters in the report, and there may be other omissions. Grewal added that when the FDIC was asked to correct and stop the word games, the other party said it would take at least a year. The FDIC responded in a status report on January 17 that it had provided all relevant documents and conducted a search of letters shared with the Office of the Inspector General between March 2022 and May 2023, which was consistent with the FOIA request. The agency said that History Associates had no reasonable basis to believe that letters outside this scope and time period belonged to the original FOIA request, adding that these letter requests were being reviewed quickly as separate FOIA requests. (Cointelegraph)